106. THE REVIVAL At that time, some students attending uni were T HE REVIVAL IN SWITZERLAND not happy with the outward religion of those The university founded by the God-fearing Calvin days. So, they joined the 'Brotherhood'. in 1559, still stands in Geneva today. That school However, the liberal Genevan ministers has been a blessing for many in the dark days of discovered that and ordered the students not to persecution. Above the entrance, we read the go there; if they did anyway, they would be inscription, 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning expelled! of wisdom.' In 1816 a salesman by the name of Wilcox arrived It is now two centuries later, and that school is in Geneva from England. This Wilcox belonged to still attended by students training for the ministry, the Whitefield Methodists. but. the Bible is no longer taught! He meets the students who wanted to join the The future ministers don't even get to see the forbidden Brotherhood. Soon they come together New Testament. The Old Testament was used and started holding secret meetings. once a week, not to learn the contents of God's Word but only to study the language. That hour But they do not manage to do this for long served only to enhance their academic because the liberals discover them again and they knowledge. order Wilcox to leave the city. Before he leaves, Wilcox begs the Lord for a new leader to serve the The spirit of enlightenment poisoned the Brotherhood. God answers that prayer. Just as university which had once been founded by Wilcox leaves the city of Geneva, Robert Haldane Calvin. If Calvin had lived to see that, he would enters it. have been extremely distressed and offended! Robert Haldane? This clearly shows that around the year 1800 Who is he? things in Geneva were in a sorry state. Not much Robert Haldane was an evangelical minister from was left of the fruits of the Reformation, instead, Scotland. there was much deformation. Rev. Haldane meets a There was still a faithful 'brotherhood' in Geneva, theological student but it was small. from the University of Geneva, and these two have an in-depth discussion. The next time the student brings some of his Robert Haldane 1764-1842 friends. Soon this developes into regular meetings in Robert's apartment and Robert becomes the new leader of the Brotherhood. Together they study the letter to the Romans. This study of God's Word is in stark contrast to the The ‘Calvin College’ Completed in 1559 lessons at the university. Although Satan always tries to destroy God's work, God continues with His plan. CESAR MALAN Even the sleepers wake up. Listen, Malan presents a vastly different message today: 'For by grace One day one of the liberal ministers from the you have been saved through faith'! Genevan university reads the Bible. His name is Cesar Malan. He is reading from Eph 2: 8: 'For by Sincerely and with passion Malan preaches that to grace you have been saved through faith; and that be saved, man must repent. Salvation is only not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.' possible by faith in Jesus Christ. These words have a powerful impact on Cesar He stresses that good works do not earn salvation. Malan. He reads that text repeatedly, and God The people look at each other. uses those words to work conversion in his heart. They are not used to such preaching. This happened when the professors of the They get restless. university had just introduced a new rule. They had decided that from now on, they would not When the service is over, the people walk home, speak to the students about a Jesus Who was God passionately discussing the message. This sermon and Man. Neither would there be any more creates confusion and contention. Other ministers hear about it and visit Malan the very next day. They ask him not to preach like that again. That was against the decision they had just made not to talk about Jesus as Saviour. Malan refuses and tells them that he neither can nor may preach otherwise. The liberal preachers don't like his response; they become angry and prevent him from entering any pulpit in Geneva. He may not teach at the university anymore either. He loses his job and income just like that. That is terrible as he is married and has five children. What now? He needs to support his family, doesn't he? To earn something, he takes in a few boarders. In the meantime, he continues his Bible lectures. More and more people come to listen to him. But then the hostility of the liberal people of Cesar Malan (1787-1864) Geneva also flares up. They force their way into the meeting room and break up the group. Once discussions about original sin, grace, and election. outside, the liberals pelt the students who had That was not necessary. All we need to worry been listening to Malan, with stones. about is to live uprightly. A sound confession of faith was not needed. However, this goes too far for the city council of Geneva. They move to protect Cesar Malan and One Sunday Cesar Malan enters the pulpit. The his followers. Malan then asks for a church church people expect the usual sermon: do good building, but they reject that request. works, live honest and respectful, etc. etc. They already know this message; they've heard it so So he builds a chapel in the garden behind his often. house, and they have their meetings there. But as soon as Cesar Malan started preaching, it He hopes that the liberals will leave them in peace became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. there. Instead, the hostility from his liberal 'brothers and In the meantime, the French yoke pressed down sisters' escalates. hard on the Dutch people. While Napoleon ruled in France, his brother Louis ruled the Netherlands. This situation cannot continue, so Malan and the He became king in 1806. Brotherhood separate themselves from the Genevan church and establish their own. They call That same year Willem Bilderdijk was permitted this church 'The Little Church' to distinguish it to return to the Netherlands. Bilderdijk, who was from the national Church of Switzerland, 'The Large Church.' The liberals mockingly call them 'Mimichers' which means 'Hypocrites'. This new awakening is known in history as The Revival. It is an awakening from the outward religion of good works and a return to the teachings of Calvin. This awakening is not limited to Geneva. No, it spreads to other provinces of Switzerland. They begin to distribute Bibles. In many cities and villages of Switzerland, they begin to do mission work. They organise Sunday Schools, yes, they even establish a theological college where men receive training to be ministers. Willem Bilderdijk 1756 - 1831 REVIVAL IN THE NETHERLANDS. a linguist, became Louis Bonaparte's tutor. He had This spiritual awakening also spread to The to teach the king the dutch language because it Netherlands. would not do for the king of The Netherlands to not speak dutch! Willem Bilderdijk was the forerunner of this awakening. The years flew by. He was born in 1756 in Amsterdam, before the Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated. The Netherlands was liberated from the French French Revolution. At that time many quarrels yoke. between the Patriots and the followers of the The House of Orange returned. This made Prince of Orange made life miserable. Bilderdijk happy; he wrote a beautiful poem about Willem’s father was a fervent follower of the this. Prince, and Willem followed his dad in this. He We know that the spirit of the Revolution did not was a clever and gifted young man who strongly leave the country with the French. If only it had! opposed the Revolution. It was not surprising that No, that revolutionary spirit kept spreading, and when the French invaded The Netherlands in Bilderdijk continued to warn against it, 1795, and the foolish people danced around the experiencing much opposition and enmity from Liberty Tree, Willem was banished from the the liberals because of it. country. Of course, such an 'enemy' of the Bilderdijk would have liked to become a professor Revolution was not allowed to stay. Get rid of at one of the universities. He had the ability for him! that. But the 'enlightened' ministers strongly opposed the idea. No way! First Willem went to live in London but later he They did not want a man who warned against the settled in Germany in the province of Brunswick. spirit of enlightenment at the university! All his life Bilderdijk was despised, hated and ridiculed, him. This was extremely difficult for young they even called him 'The Beast'. Despite these Abraham. hardships, he persevered and managed to teach Da Costa could not the truth to some noble young men. That teaching keep quiet about his produced rich fruit. faith, either. He also The name of one of those young men was Isaac da experienced much Costa. hatred and enmity. ISAAC DA COSTA AND ABRAHAM CAPADOCE Da Costa was engaged to a Isaac da Costa was a Jew whose ancestors lived in distinguished Jewish Portugal before they fled to The Netherlands. girl. He loved her Abraham Capadoce very much. At first, 1795 - 1874 he didn't dare to tell her about his newfound faith. He was afraid that she would then break the engagement, and he didn't want to lose her. This was a big spiritual struggle for him.